Grain-binder



(No Model. 4

' J. P. STEWARD.

Grain Binder.

. No. 237,064. Patented Jan. 25,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. STEWARD, OF PLANO, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN-BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 237,064, dated January25, 1881.

Application filed November 1, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. STEWARD, acitizen of tie United States, residing at Plano, in the county ofKendall and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Grain-Binders, of which the following is a full description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings The object of myinvention is to make the binding wholly automatic and its natureconsists in such an arrangement of the parts that the movement of thetwine, as it passes from the ball to the needle or binding mechanism,may permit the clutch to engage at intervals, and thus put the bindingmechanism in motion and make the accumulating gavel regulate its ownsize.

Mydevice maybe. applied to anyof the wellknown forms of automaticclutches in use, and I do not confine myself to the one shown. It mayalso be used on any of the forms of binders now in use, butis shown asapplied to those in which the grain is packed into the receptacle andagainst the twine or wire that is to form the band.

Figure 1 is an end view of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a side view ofthe same.

In the drawings, A is a shaft from which the needle and tying mechanismare driven, and which shaft makes one revolution to bind each bundle. Bis a gear running loosely upon the shaft A, except when clutchedthereto. Upon the hub of the gear B is the ratchetwhcel G. Keyed to theshaft Ais the disk D. Pivoted to this disk at F is the hooked pawl E,held in looking position by the spring G.

If the gear B revolves in the direction indicated by the arrow, theshaft A will be moved with it as long as the pawl remains engaged withthe ratchet-wheel G.

I is a rock-shaft journaled in bearings-T on I the sill S. H is a detentkeyed on the rock- B continues to revolve. By lifting the lever J thedetent will bethrown down and the pawl be permitted to engage with theratchet, and the binding mechanism be carried through an operation.

M is any shaft, or a special. shaft that makes one revolution duringeach operation of the binder. It may be the shaft that operates thetyer. On this shaft is mounted the pulley N, so that it may have about ahalf-revolution independent of the shaft. To confine this freedom withinproper limits I put the arm 0 on the end of the shaft M and the pins P Pon the pulley-wheel N.

L is a crank on the wheel N, and K a connecting-rod, slotted at Q so farthat the crank may not act in a downward direction upon it.

N is a grooved pulley, and around it the twine is drawn from the ball tothe needle and tying mechanism. The pulley Nmay be a cone of severalsizes, so that the passage of a greater or less amount of twine, asdesired,will give it a rotation.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The forcing of the grainagainst the twine that is to be carried around it (not shown) draws thesame from the ball (not shown) in the direction indicated by the arrowat R and revolves the pulley N in the direction indicated, and the crankL comes to the end in the slot Q of rod K, when the lever J will belifted and the detent H be thrown downward, so that the pawl E willengage with the ratchet, and the shaft A, with the wheel B, be revolved,and the binding mechanism becarried through one operation. Thisoperation will be repeated as soon as the accumulating grain draws twineenough to move the pulley so far that the crank L shall lift the lever Jand trip the detent H again.

It is clear that for every revolution of the pulley a bundle will bebound, and that the size of the bundle will be regulated by the amountof twine required to give the pulley a revolution; hence the size of thebundle will be equal to the size of the particular pulley of the conethat the twine passes around less the twine consumed in the knot.

The pulley N may be mounted on a stud in any convenient position 5 but Iprefer to have it as described, so that in case of breakage of twine thepulley will still be carried, by the lever 0 striking the pin P, to itsproper position of rest.

If something were not provided to determine this position of rest, thesize of the first bundle, after threading up each time, would vary inproportion to the part of a revolution the pulley had to make before itscrank reached the position for tripping.

The way of transmitting the movement of the pulley to the trippingdevice may be varied almost indefinitely, and 1 do not confine myself toany particular way.

The pulley N may be directly on the shaft A, as it is mounted on M, andthe parts so arranged that the crank L will come in contact with thedetent H and move it out of the way of the pawl and permit it to engagewith l ratchet U. 1

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is- 1 1. The pulley N, in combination with the moving binding-cord andmeans for engaging and disengaging the binding mechanism, for

the purpose specified, substantially as de- 25 ism, substantially asdescribed, for the purpose 3o specified.

3. The shaft M, provided with the arm O,in combination with the pulleymounted loosely thereon, and provided with the stops P P, for

the purpose specified, substantially as de- 35 scribed.

JOHN F. STEWARD.

Witnesses:

L. B. Wool), C. F. SEARCH.

